In a commentary this week, Pablo Eisenberg discusses the escalation of non-profit executive salaries, and frankly, even if it doesn’t sound quite like Enron, I would have thought he was talking about excessive executive compensation in for-profit businesses.

To facilitate, and possibly at times to disguise, the large increases for their CEO compensation packages, nonprofit boards have increasingly resorted to payments beyond direct salaries: deferred compensation, bonuses, housing allowances, and other benefits. The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported that of the 304 nonprofit groups that provided data for 2005, 40 gave their chief executives bonuses as part of their compensation packages, many them worth at least $50,000.

In a discussion of 2006 returns from fundraising, online fundraising was helpful for large charities.

Online donations grew for most other charities last year by healthy margins. Although figures for the Salvation Army’s year-end Red Kettle drive are not yet available, the online version brought in $482,317—a 256-percent increase from 2005.